Spring has arrived in Wisconsin and I've been busy tweaking my backyard. I finally got around to making my Jungle Cruise bar complete with steel roof. I may add a facade to the front section to better emulate the cue building at Disneyland.

"Dumb Dumb" stands vigilant watch...

Would love to build these other "lands" some day...

The designs on either side of the Tiki Tiki Room sign were done by Lake Tiki.

My attempt to emulate the wall of masks at the entrance to Adventureland. Just need to add some shields now:

Mick-Tiki:

Wood barrels are difficult to find. And the ones the sell online are very expensive, to say the least. The one you see in the foreground I purchased at a bigbox hardware store in Milwaukee called "Menards". It was a perfect half barrel meant to be used as a planter. I bought two and fastened them together to make a complete barrel:

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"Never get out of the boat. Absolutely goddamn right."
-Apocalypse Now

To say "I would love to have a back yard like that" would be a huge understatement. You've done a wonderful job with all your replica signage and I can't help but feel some longing to visit Disneyland again. It reminds me that I really need to move somewhere with a modifiable backyard!

VERY smart idea with the half barrels - pure genius! What a fun yard you have - I was wondering if you keep that reed fencing on the walls year round (does it weather the winters there?) or do you have to replace it now and again? Things tend to rot here in the Seattle area after a while. Oh, and your "rough sketch" of your bar was far better than any actual working blueprint I could buy! Nice job.
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The reed fencing you see in the photos has been up for over three years now and has held up quite well. Although we get a lot of snow here, our winters are actually desert dry. Not a lot of moisture in the air. The change in seasons though does beat the crap out of things after awhile. We're having our rainy season now. So applying some Thompson weather seal will definitely add a few years of life to the reed. You might want to try that in Seattle.

I also cover the exposed thatching with plastic.

_________________"You can either surf, or you can fight!"
- Col. Kilgore, Apocalypse Now

Wow, I kinda feel like I'm arriving a little late to this party, but I'm glad I got here!
Amazing work!

I'm the guy who built the Indy Tiki bar and Jungle Cruise playhouse,. I got bored yesterday and googled my work (for the first time),and I couldn't believe how many times my stuff shows up on other sites! But this is by far the most interesting forum to me,and I just love the stuff you have done.

Regarding space, you would be amazed how much I've fit into a very small area.The bar area is only 15' wide,by the length of my house,and the playhouse was built into an unusable yard area, to maximize yard space.It's a very small,but quaint area.I need more signage though,and have been inspired by some of your work for sure. I am also working on plans for an artificial rock wall and waterfall, to go near the playhouse, a Schweitzer Falls of sorts....it's very cool stuff,and I'm using the same techniques as Disney's Imagineers...

Your backyard was a HUGE inspiration for me. I really like what you did with the bar. Imagineering at home! And like me, you live where it gets REALLY cold in winter. Bravo for attempting all of that!

Please post some more detailed pictures of your projects here.

In the meantime, here's a pretty photo I took of the woods behind my home this past Saturday night. I used the "candle" setting on my digital camera to capture the green lit trees, waterfall and Tiki torch.

Pete
TIKINAUT

_________________
"Never get out of the boat. Absolutely goddamn right."
-Apocalypse Now

Ok here we go
Turned the yard into a Pirates Lair for my daughters 4th birthday..I also had a 5.1 DVD with the audio from the ride which I remixed.The skull at the entrance had the "psst..avast there matey" voice,and then as you entered it was the sounds of cannons,etc..and the smoke,very eerie!
Made this last summer,carved from Cedar,adorned with artificial flowers.This used to appear on top of the Dole Hut, at the Tiki Room in DL.I see it is not there anymore.
Close up view of the mask.
Night time is the best out there..the view from the playhouse area.
The facade wall was inspired by the ticket booth part of the Jungle Cruise entrance, on the left. The sign was recreated by me,using stencils, freehand.The boat was created in Photoshop,printed on clear labels,and stuck on.It has faded considerably,and needs replacing.
Another night view
Two years ago we had a terrible winter here. It dropped to -15 for a whole month (unheard of here)! It killed the lawn, palm trees,and just made a terrible mess...
All I could do was dig it up and start over....
I raised the ground level a few inches,improved drainage and added lots of sand...
Bought some new trees...
And re sodded the whole thing....
I'm happy to say the the yard has flourished since then, and I've learned better techniques for winterizing my plants!